CFA Sri Lanka Capital Market Awards recognize best in investment profession

Best Investor Relations Team – Gold – National Development Bank PLC

Best Equity Research Report – Gold – Kanishka Perera of Asia Securities (Pvt.) Ltd

Best Unit Trust Fund – Gold – JB Vintage Money Market Fund

The fifth annual CFA Sri Lanka Capital Market Awards 2017 was held at The Hilton Colombo recently, under the theme ‘Sharpen your investment edge’ with the objective of encouraging those in the investment profession locally to uphold the standards of best practice, excellence and financial market integrity.

The speakers of the evening focused on consumerism and the macroeconomic fundamentals driving the consumer sector in Sri Lanka.

The winners were recognised in four categories by recognizing the analysts who produce best in class reports on fundamental equity research, fund management companies that place unit holder interest first, promote better compliance and transparency to unit holders, stockbroker research teams that aim to provide high-quality and timely research to create an efficient capital market and listed companies that practice active investor relations by communicating interactively with the investor community.

The award winners of the evening were honoured for their achievements and contribution to the capital markets by making a difference that matters. The Best Equity Research Report – Gold went to Kanishka Perera of Asia Securities (Pvt.) Ltd for the report on Sampath Bank, Silver to Lakshini Fernando of Asia Securities (Pvt.) Ltd for the report on Central Finance, Bronze to Nishara Sangapilarchchi of JB Securities (Pvt.) Ltd for the report on Ceylon Cold Stores and a certificate of commendation to Anjula Nawarathna of Acuity Stock Brokers (Pvt.) Ltd. 

Best Unit Trust Fund: Gold – JB Vintage Money Market Fund, Silver – Guardian Acuity Money Market Gilt Fund and Bronze – Guardian Acuity Money Market Fund. 

Best Stock Broking Research Team: Gold – Asia Securities (Pvt.) Ltd, Silver – CT CLSA Securities (Pvt.) Ltd and Bronze – NDB Securities (Pvt.) Ltd. 

Best Investor Relations Team: Gold – National Development Bank PLC, Silver - Dialog Axiata PLC and Bronze – Hatton National Bank PLC.   

Speaking of the award ceremony CFA Society Sri Lanka President Rachini Rajapaksa said, “I congratulate the winners of the evening for their efforts to uphold best practices and set global standards and advocate for professional excellence that ultimately benefits society. We are proud that the CFA Sri Lanka Capital Market Awards is the only award ceremony that incentivizes capital market participants and the stakeholder groups to strive for standards of excellence.

The judges for each award category are carefully handpicked and consist of both CFA charter holders and industry experts. A considerable time and effort is devoted by the judges to ensure fairness, independence and objectivity in selecting the winners. The audience for the evening included market regulators, investors, investee companies and the professionals who serve them. Professional excellence and vision shapes the next generation capital market. May I request you to take cognizance of the commendations by the judges and harness them further but more importantly focus on improving the areas requiring improvement.”

This year the speakers engaged the audience present with Nielson Sri Lanka Managing Director Sharang Pant speaking on consumer spending trends globally and in Sri Lanka and patterns that can be envisaged with the introduction of online platforms. Guardian Fund Management CEO Ruvini Fernando focused on how spending trends have evolved with more people spending on organised retail and the need for a proper support structure for e-commerce. 

Post the presentation, a panel discussion was held with the two speakers and Takas.lk Co-Founder and CEO Lahiru Pathmalal and John Keells Holdings Executive Director Gihan Cooray, moderated by Shalini Kurululasuriya, CFA, sharing useful insights on the rapid growth of third party online portals and the challenges in existing payment gateways in the country.   

The CFA Sri Lanka Capital Market Awards was created by CFA Society Sri Lanka. This year’s event was chaired by Mifnaz Jawahar, CFA. The award ceremony is an exclusive event for the investment industry executives looking to be rewarded and improve their asset-management strategies and advance their market knowledge with the guidance of some of the most experienced minds in the industry.